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Awakenings

There is no such thing as a simple miracle.

1990 · 2h · PG-13 Drama
Directed by Penny Marshall

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Overview

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
81%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Williams gives his best "straight" performance, shorn of all his marvelous manic vaudeville. The man he plays here is not a performer, which he was even in Dead Poets Society, but simply a man.

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic

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